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Friday, August 14, 2015

How a Bookworm Celebrates a Birthday

My birthday is coming up on Sunday. I'll be...well, it doesn't matter how old I'll be. What matters is that my favorite way to celebrate has, as far back as I can remember, involved books.

When I was a child, I always asked for Black Stallion books for my birthday. My favorite wasn't a book about The Black at all, though; it was a fictionalized biography of the great racehorse Man O'War.

It has a new cover style now, but this was the one I imprinted on.

Once I got a little older, I asked for Baby-Sitters' Club books. Or Nancy Drews. Lois Duncan novels. Books of Dave Barry columns. As a teen, I started collecting Agatha Christie's mysteries, and I asked for the titles I hadn't been able to find at my local bookstores.

I still have them all. Hey, it took a long time to collect these.

When I hit college, I was just as likely to ask for classics I needed for my English degree as I was to ask for something for fun...until I discovered romance novels. Then there were always a few historicals on my wish list, especially by Julia Quinn and Eloisa James...or Lisa Kleypas...Mary Balogh...Loretta Chase...

This year, of COURSE I have books on my wish list, but I'm not celebrating my birthday by buying them. (I'm hoping Mr. R will buy them for me!) Instead, I'm giving away copies of the books I've written. I started on Monday with my romance debut, Season for Temptation, and the giveaways will wrap up on Sunday with my most recently-published novel, Secrets of a Scandalous Heiress. For today? The Season for Scandal giveaway is wrapping up at noon ET. Then it's the turn of To Charm a Naughty Countess, my opposites-attract Pygmalion story featuring a rakish heroine and an anxious virgin duke hero. To get in on the giveaway fun, stop by my Facebook page and comment on today's post.

And to thank you for stopping by this post, I'll give away another book here! Just let me know, what's your favorite way to celebrate your birthday?

I'll choose a winner tomorrow afternoon at random from among all commenters. International entries are welcome. The winner can pick any of my Holiday Pleasures or Matchmaker books in print or for Kindle or Nook. You can check out the list here: http://theresaromain.com/books/ Click the book covers to find out more and read excerpts.

Happy reading!

Theresa Romain is the bestselling author of historical romances, including the Matchmaker trilogy, the Holiday Pleasures series, the Royal Reward series, and the Romance of the Turf trilogy. Praised as “one of the rising stars of Regency historical romance” (Booklist), her highly acclaimed novels have been chosen for the Smart Bitches Trashy Books Sizzling Book Club, featured in the DABWAHA tournament, and deemed “Desert Isle Keepers” by All About Romance. A member of Romance Writers of America and its Regency specialty chapter The Beau Monde, Theresa is hard at work on her next novel from her home in the Midwest. Please visit her online at theresaromain.com .

Happy Birthday! Books are always a great way to celebrate. If possible we try to go out for a nice dinner (yay no cooking) and maybe a movie. Both my daughters are grown, one married and one that has a wonderful guy too so it's a nice time.

Catslady, you've won a book! Please email me at theresa @ theresaromain .com (no spaces) to let me know which of my Holiday Pleasures or Matchmaker books you'd like and in what format (print or ebook for Kindle or Nook). The list is here: http://theresaromain.com/books/

I buy it. There was a local bakery that specialized in only that one cake. That's all they sold and people ordered it year after year. They finally went out of business, so I have to buy it elsewhere now. It's not quite as good, but it's my favorite type of birthday cake,

My favorite way to celebrate my birthday is with a big family dinner, multiple courses, wine, music and conversation. Half the fun of the dinner is everyone pitching in with the prep and cooking. The conversation is more along the line of revealing secrets or mentioning things not talked about from that at the table during the actual meal.

You and your husband share a birthday? How fun! I agree, two cakes are the way to go.

Oh my gosh, I have ALL the Walter Farley Black Stallion books. I had about 10 from when I was a kid, and I've filled in the other 10 over time. They have to have the cover art I loved from my childhood (by Ruth Sanderson...yes, I spent a lot of time with these paperbacks). No surprise that my next romance series is focused on Regency horse-racing...

Early Happy Birthday! That used to be what I asked for as well, until my friends got frustrated that I read the books in such a short amount of time and stopped giving them to me, no matter how much I protested, lol. Nowadays, I treasure a special meal with my hubby and sometimes with my best friend...and maintain my regular relationship with my local libraries!

If my birthday is on a weekday, I always take the day off work. Who wants to be at work on a day like that? My favorite way to celebrate is to spend the day at an amusement park with my son and a close second is hanging out with my sister talking about books. I always have pumpkin pie for my birthday, no cake for me. Since it's the day after Halloween there's always pumpkin pie to be had. :D